System and method for displaying contextual supplemental content based on image content

ABSTRACT

An image-based content item is analyzed to determine information about a subject of the content item. The analysis may include performing image analysis on at least an image of the content item. An inference may be programmatically made about one or more of (i) a viewer or holder of the content item, or (ii) the subject of content item.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of priority to provisional U.S. PatentApplication No. 60/952,587, filed Jul. 29, 2007, and entitled “Systemand Method for Displaying Contextual Supplemental Content Based on ImageContent”; the aforementioned priority application being herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate to a system and method for targetingsupplemental content from analysis of input images.

BACKGROUND

Digital photography has become a consumer application of greatsignificance. It has afforded individuals convenience in capturing andsharing digital images. Devices that capture digital images have becomelow-cost, and the ability to send pictures from one location to theother has been one of the driving forces in the drive for more networkbandwidth.

Due to the relative low cost of memory and the availability of devicesand platforms from which digital images can be viewed, the averageconsumer maintains most digital images on computer-readable mediums,such as hard drives, CD-Roms, and flash memory. The use of file foldersare the primary source of organization, although applications have beencreated to aid users in organizing and viewing digital images. Somesearch engines, such as GOOGLE, also enables users to search for images,primarily by matching text-based search input to text metadata orcontent associated with images.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for delivering supplemental content to aclass of persons through use of image recognition or analysis of animage content of interest, under an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system for delivering supplemental content to auser through the use of image recognition or analysis of content itemsthat are viewed, stored or otherwise of interest to a user, under anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates additional components of an analysis system andinference determinator, under an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an architecture for a computing system on which oneor more embodiments described herein may be implemented.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method by which a user's interests in babies ortoddlers can be leveraged, in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a presentation on which supplemental content selectedin part from inferences of other content and/or other inferences isdisplayed, under an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to an embodiment, computer-implemented processes are performedto provide content, such as commercial content, to a user. The processesprovide for analyzing an image-based content item to determineinformation about a subject of the content item. The analysis of thecontent item may include performing image analysis on at least a portionof individual content items that includes an image. One or moreinferences may be programmatically made about one or more of (i) aviewer or holder of the content item, or (ii) the subject of contentitem. According to an embodiment, programmatically made inferences mayinclude inferences that are based at least in part on the determinedinformation about the subject of the content item. The determinedinferences may exclude (a) information made explicit in the contentitem, and (b) information that is depicted with one or more foregroundobjects in the image of individual content items in the set so as to berecognizeable from performing recognition on the images of theindividual content items.

According to an embodiment, the inferences are made to enableclassification of the user (e.g. the viewer or holder of the image).Based on the classification of the user (or the inferences made of thecontent items), commercial content, such as in the form of supplementalcontent containing commercial links or advertisement, may be rendered orotherwise provided to the user.

Examples described herein provide for recognition of image-based contentfor purpose of determining commercial or supplemental content (e.g.advertisement, message) for delivery to pertinent class of viewers (orusers). In one embodiment, recognition of image-based content isperformed in order to select, or facilitate the selection of,supplemental content for delivery to a class of persons that view theimage-based content. As an alternative or addition, one or moreembodiments provide for performing recognition of image-based content inorder to select, or facilitate the selection, of supplemental contentfor delivery to a viewer of an image library (e.g. person viewing hisimage library online).

As used herein, the term “subject” of a content item or set of contentitems (including of an image) is intended to mean a topic, person, placeor event depicted, shown or otherwise described in the content item.Embodiments recognize that content items may have more than one subjector topic, and reference to “the subject” is intended to mean only one ofmultiple possible subjects.

As used herein, the term “image data” is intended to mean data thatcorresponds to or is based on one or more of (i) characteristics of acaptured image, or (ii) discrete portions of a captured image. Forexample, with digital images, such as those provided in a JPEG format,the image data may correspond to data or information about pixels orpixel-clusters that form the image, as well as data or informationdetermined from pixels of the image. Examples of image data includecolor values, identified shapes, or sections of a captured image.

The terms “recognize”, or “recognition”, or variants thereof, in thecontext of an image or image data (e.g. “recognize an image”) means thata determination is made as to what the image contains, correlates to,represents, or identifies. Image recognition may be performed to detectand classify objects appearing in images.

As used herein, the terms “programmatic”, “programmatically” orvariations thereof mean through execution of code, programming or otherlogic. A programmatic action may be performed with software, firmware orhardware, and generally without user-intervention, albeit notnecessarily automatically, as the action may be manually triggered.

One or more embodiments described herein may be implemented usingprogrammatic elements, often referred to as modules or components,although other names may be used. Such programmatic elements may includea program, a subroutine, a portion of a program, or a software componentor a hardware component capable of performing one or more stated tasksor functions. As used herein, a module or component can exist on ahardware component independently of other modules/components or amodule/component can be a shared element or process of othermodules/components, programs or machines. A module or component mayreside on one machine, such as on a client or on a server, or amodule/component may be distributed amongst multiple machines, such ason multiple clients or server machines. Any system described may beimplemented in whole or in part on a server, or as part of a networkservice. Alternatively, a system such as described herein may beimplemented on a local computer or terminal, in whole or in part. Ineither case, implementation of the system provided for in thisapplication may require use of memory, processors and network resources(including data ports, and signal lines (optical, electrical etc.),unless stated otherwise.

Embodiments described herein generally require the use of computersincluding processing and memory resources. For example, systemsdescribed herein may be implemented on a server or network service. Suchservers may connect and be used by users over networks such as theInternet, or by a combination of networks, such as cellular networks andthe Internet. Alternatively, one or more embodiments described hereinmay be implemented locally, in whole or in part, on computing machinessuch as desktops, cellular phones, personal digital assistances orlaptop computers. Thus, memory, processing and network resources may allbe used in connection with the establishment, use or performance of anyembodiment described herein (including with the performance of anymethod or with the implementation of any system).

Furthermore, one or more embodiments described herein may be implementedthrough the use of instructions that are executable by one or moreprocessors. These instructions may be carried on a computer-readablemedium. Machines shown in figures below provide examples of processingresources and computer-readable mediums on which instructions forimplementing embodiments of the invention can be carried and/orexecuted. In particular, the numerous machines shown with embodiments ofthe invention include processor(s) and various forms of memory forholding data and instructions. Examples of computer-readable mediumsinclude permanent memory storage devices, such as hard drives onpersonal computers or servers. Other examples of computer storagemediums include portable storage units, such as CD or DVD units, flashmemory (such as carried on many cell phones and personal digitalassistants (PDAs)), and magnetic memory. Computers, terminals andnetwork enabled devices (e.g. mobile devices such as cell phones) areall examples of machines and devices that utilize processors, memory andinstructions stored on computer-readable mediums.

Methodology

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for delivering supplemental content to aclass of persons through use of image recognition or analysis of animage content of interest, according to an embodiment of the invention.Embodiments such as described with FIG. 1 may provide for the deliveryof supplemental content to different classes of users. In oneembodiment, the pertinent class of persons (to receive supplementalcontent) is the viewer. In another embodiment, the pertinent class ofpersons is the owner of the content. In either case, a method such asdescribed with FIG. 1 may be performed to deliver, for example, selector targeted advertisement to persons based on inferences determined fromanalyzing image content.

In a step 110, analysis is performed on one or more image-based contentsitems that are viewed or collected/maintained by a user (i.e. a personwho views, holds or owns the content). The analysis may be performed todetermine information about a subject of the content item. Inparticular, the analysis performed may include image analysis (such asrecognition) to identify or classify contents of the image portion ofthe content item. Image-based content items may also include textcontent (e.g. web blog with images), which can be analyzed using bothtext and image analysis. Other information that may be used in theanalysis include metadata or user-information.

In one embodiment, a set of one or more content items are analyzed,where at least some of the content items include images. Various typesof image-based content may be used with embodiments described herein. Inone implementation, the image-based content is public, meaning that itis available to a large class of viewers. Specific examples include webcontent that incorporates or uses images (e.g. blogs, news stories). Inanother implementation, the image-based content corresponds to contentthat is private or restricted from the general public. Specific examplesof such content include, for example, a private library of consumerphotographs, such as maintained by individuals in online photo-storagesites or social networking sites. As such, the image-based content maycorrespond to content viewed by anyone who wants to access the content(e.g. public web page), or a privately held images (personal library orcollection).

Different kinds of information may be determined about the subject ofthe content item. Step 110 may include any one or more sub-steps fordetermining information for use in identifying inferences about theperson who will view supplemental content identified in part from theimage content of interest. In particular, sub-steps 112 through 118provide for image analysis processes that may be performed on thecontent item. In addition to performing image analysis (as describedwith steps 112 through 118), embodiments provide for performing theanalysis of the content item using text analysis, metadata analysis,and/or user-information. Sub-step 112 provides for (i) detecting personsor faces in an image, then (ii) determining class-specific informationabout the persons detected in the image. In one embodiment, recognitionprocesses may be performed to detect whether the image contains any oneor more of the following: (i) a person of an age classification, (ii) agender of a person appearing in the image, and/or (iii) an ethnicity ofa person appearing in the images. In one embodiment, age classificationincludes multiple age classifications that are predefined. While suchclassifications may differ with implementation, one embodiment providesfor the following use of age classifications: babies (humans underage 1) or toddlers (humans under age of 4), senior citizens (personsover 65), and persons of 5-64. These classifications are favorablebecause programmatically applied image recognition can more easilydistinguish individuals in these four classes.

Gender detection corresponds to the determination of whether a personthat appears in an image is male of female. Ethnicity detection maycorrespond to the determination of a person's ethnicity or race, asidentified from detected skin color, hair color or type, eye shape, orother predefined features.

The following application includes teaching for identifying persons incaptured images by class (e.g. gender or ethnicity): U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/246,742, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLINGTHE USE OF CAPTURED IMAGES THROUGH RECOGNITION, filed on Oct. 7, 2005and incorporated by reference in its entirety. Furthermore, as explainedbelow, classification analysis of persons appearing in images can infera corresponding classification of users (e.g. viewers) who are highlymotivated by depicted classification of persons that are a subject ofthe content item. The inferred class of users can be targeted foradvertisement or other supplemental content based on the understandingof their interest to, for example, the age or ethnicity classificationof persons appearing in the content items.

Sub-steps 114 provides for detecting objects of differentclassifications from an image in the content item. Embodiments describedherein are capable of recognizing or detecting numerous types of objectsfrom captured images. In particular, one or more embodiments provide forobjects to be identified from images based on predefined classes. Asdescribed, each object class may be predefined by a set of features(which may be initially set by humans, then trained algorithmically overtime). These features may be selected for the specific class of objectsas being the best markers to analyze the given object class. Thus,objects may be identified from images by first detecting class (e.g.human versus non-human), then determining sub-class (clothing), thendetermining sub-sub class (blouse). At each level of identification, theimage analysis may seek markers that are indicative of the class orsub-class. The classification process may follow a tree structure ofanalysis, starting broad and becoming iteratively more narrow, with eachsub-class analysis requiring identification of markers or features thatare specific to the sub-class being sought. Markers and features mayinitially be provided by humans, but overtime, a training algorithm maybe used to tune the detection and classification algorithm. As such, theobjects in images can be classified, then sub-classified, and againclassified further, with each iteration being more precise and featurespecific. The end classification of objects appearing in the images ofthe content items may require identification of features or markers thatcould not be made programmatically without some prior generalclassification being made on the object. In this way, embodimentsrecognize features and markers that are useful in programmatic detectionand classification of objects in images that are selected based on thespecific classification being sought.

Examples of objects that can be detected from images include, forexample, merchandise items (particularly those worn by persons, such asclothing, apparel, and jewelry), persons (as described in sub-step 112),automobiles/motorcycles, or furniture. U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/777,894, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING IMAGE RECOGNITIONAND SEARCHING OF REMOTE CONTENT ON DISPLAY, filed Jul. 13, 2007, andincorporated herein in its entirety, teaches detection of objects,particularly merchandise items worn by persons. U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/246,742, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING THE USE OFCAPTURED IMAGES THROUGH RECOGNITION, filed on Oct. 7, 2005 also includesdescription of object detection.

For example, an object in an image may first be identified as clothingor apparel, such as a shoe, tie, handbag, or item of clothing. Onceclassified, the item may be sub-classified through marker detection andanalysis. For example, in the case of a shoe, markers indicative ofwhether the shoe is for men or women may be sought. In an image, thismay correspond to detection of regions of the object, such as regionthat identifies whether the shoe has a heel or a pointed toe. But textaccompanying the image may also be of assistance, to indicate the genderof the shoes. In this way, objects may be classified generically asshoes, then classified as a species of shoes (e.g. male or gender). Evenfurther, the objects may be re-classified using a image and/or textanalysis. For example, shoes may be classified by shape, texture,features such as shoe laces or buckles, and toe-end segments. Likewise,motorcycles may be recognized by presence of two wheels, handlebars, andseats.

The sub-step of object detection/classification may includeidentification of apparel, clothing or jewelry. Specific examples ofapparel and clothing include shirts, pants, suits, dresses, shoes, ties,handbags, or scarfs. Performance of sub-step 115 may either (i) userecognition understanding/detection of persons (e.g. individual whowears clothes), or (ii) be independent of detecting or analyzingpersons. Analysis of clothing, apparel and other items worn by personsis described in more detail in (i) U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/777,894, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING IMAGE RECOGNITIONAND SEARCHING OF REMOTE CONTENT ON DISPLAY, filed Jul. 13, 2007, and(ii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/246,742, entitled SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR ENABLING THE USE OF CAPTURED IMAGES THROUGH RECOGNITION,filed on Oct. 7, 2005 both of which teach detection of clothing andapparel.

As another addition or alternative, sub-step 116 provides fordetermining information about an event shown in the image of the contentitem. The information may identify, for example, a context of the event.The contextual information may include geographical information from theimage content of interest. For example, analysis of the image input maydetermine whether the image contact is set at a beach, a city, amountain area, a pool, or an urban environment. The geographiccharacterization of images can be performed by extracting color andpattern features and applying a classification scheme that includes someprobability determinations. For example, a picture with textured greenbackground is likely to have been taken in the outdoors, and a picturewith gray tones and lots of vertical lines is likely to have been takenin an urban environment.

Numerous other parameters or characteristics may be predefined foridentification and analysis of context or event information. The contextmay also include the number of persons in the image, the location orlayout of persons relative to each other, and the time of day the imagewas taken (e.g. night or day). Such contextual/geographic settinginformation may assist programmatic determination of an event associatedwith the image (e.g. a party, vacation etc.). In one implementation,such programmatic determinations may be made through probabilityanalysis.

As an optional process, one or more embodiments further provide insub-step 118 for enhancing information determined from analysis ofimages through use of associated text, metadata and other information.This may include anyone or more of the following: (i) meta-informationsuch as tags or web page content surrounding an image of interest; (ii)images from other images in an identified set of collection (part of thesame folder, captured on the same day on the same camera etc.); (iii)information about the viewer of the image, for example IP address, orstored profile information about the user, or browsing history of theviewer; and/or (iv) information about the owner of the image.

As another optional step, one or more embodiments provide for certainconfidence measures or parameters to be identified or otherwiseperformed. In one embodiment, a measure of similarity between elementsof the images in the collection (for example face similarity, clothingsimilarity) can be used to enhance the confidence in the detectedcharacteristics. For example, if a picture contains a face determined tobelong to a baby, but with low confidence, then the presence in theimage set of another picture, (i) with a similar face, (ii) alsodetermined to be a baby, suggests that this is indeed two pictures ofthe same baby with higher confidence. Thus, intelligence may be used toconfirm a determination of step 110 using two or more sub-steps, oralternatively, information from two different sources.

From the information determined in step 110 (and any of the sub-steps),step 120 provides for determining inferences about (i) the subject ofthe content item, and/or (ii) the user of the content item. Inferences,as programmatically determined, may correspond to conclusions that areinformative if true.

According to one embodiment, one type of inference that may be made instep 120 is the inference of a classification of the user based (inpart) on a determination of the subject of the content item. Forexample, the user may be classified by gender, age, ethnicity, by hisdeemed interests in the subject matter, or (as described below) by hisparental status. As will be described, in one embodiment, the inferencesderived about the user include determination of social-economic statusand/or marketing classification, for purpose of providing supplementalcontent that is targeted to the user.

In addition to inferences about the user, inferences may be made aboutthe subject matter. Subject matter inferences may exclude (i)information that is made explicit in the content item, and (ii)information that is depicted with one or more foreground objects (e.g.detected or classified objects) that are recognizeable from performingrecognition or classification (step 110) on the images. Thus,identification of objects that are plainly depicted and classified fromimage analysis are not considered inferences. Identification ofinformation that is explicit, in for example, the text of the contentitem is also not an inference. Rather, the inference may correspond to aconclusion that is drawn from information garnered from the analysis.Examples of such inferences include:

(i) Person Inferences. Person inferences may correspond to, for example,conclusions about relationships amongst persons that are identified inthe content items. For example, person inferences may identify personsin content items as being friends, spouses, family members, or part of acommon organization. Person inferences may also identify persons to bethe same, using information other than identity recognition. Forexample, two babies may be assumed to be the same because the personholding them (i.e. the parent) is the same person. The confidence in thebaby recognition may be low, but the confidence in the recognition ofthe parent is high, and the inference may be drawn.

(ii) Location Inferences: The background of the image portions of thecontent items may be analyzed to determine a location or geographiccontext to the image. For example, the background coloring and shadingmay be analyzed to determine whether the picture was taken indoors oroutdoors, or in an urban environment (e.g. buildings), beach (brightsand, blue ocean) or in a forest (greens).

(iii) Event inferences: Event inferences are an example of a context ofthe image or the content item. The event may be inferred from, forexample, analysis of the images and the background. As an example, acelebration may be inferred based on individuals in groups smiling orlaughing and being close to one another.

One or more embodiments provide for inferences that are probabilistic innature. In particular, one or more embodiments provide that informationis based on a probabilistic determination about the subject matter andcontext (who, where, when) of the image content of interest, oralternatively, a collection of images of the image content of interest.As described with an embodiment of FIG. 3, one or more embodiments maydraw inferences by applying a set of rules and probabilistic conclusionsto information determined about the viewer and/or the subject matter ofthe content items.

The following are examples of assumptions or determinations that may bemade in performing step 120: (i) a male and a female are detected withfaces in close proximity on a beach is likely to be a couple on summervacation, (ii) a collection of pictures containing a single baby face oneach image would likely be a baby photo album, (iii) a picture with alarge number of same gender faces taken in the evening over a darkbackground is likely to be a group of friends at a party; and (iv) agroup of pictures taken outdoors, with a couple of recurring faces whichare not the center of focus of the image are likely to be a vacationslide show where people are posing in front of vacation sights.

In step 130, supplemental content is selected for the relevant partybased on the determined inferences. The selected supplemental contentmay also be based on the relevant party who is assumed to be the viewerof the supplemental content when presented. Specific implementationexamples include displaying advertisements on (i) web pages that hostthe user's collection of personal images, such as provided by user-webpages on social networks; (ii) web pages that the user views throughinteraction with a website; or (iii) images that the user views from aprivate collection (pictures the user takes on his own camera) on hispersonal computer.

As mentioned, step 120 provides for deriving inferences that correspondto socio-economic and/or marketing classification of the user. Suchinferences may be correlated in step 130 to market segmentationinformation. The market segmentation may be based on either class ofpertinent user: the owner of the images or the viewer of the images. Thefollowing examples are illustrative: (i) In step 110, the subject matterof a content item may be identified as including a baby; (ii) basedin-part on the determined information from the analysis, step 120 mayinfer the user is a parent, and (iii) step 130 identifies marketclassification on the inference that the user is a parent of a baby. Asan alternative, step 120 may infer that the viewer of the image of thebaby is a person who has a relationship with the parent of the baby, andas such, is a person who is interested in purchasing a gift for theparent or baby.

Accordingly, in step 130, the market segmentation correlation to theinference may be used to select supplemental content for the user. Inone embodiment, the determined information about the image content ofinterest, in connection with the relevant class of persons, is used todeliver targeted advertising to either class of users. The targetedadvertisement, along with promotional material or just content deemed ofinterest, may comprise the supplemental content.

In step 140, the supplemental content is displayed or otherwise providedto the user. In one implementation, the supplemental content may bedelivered concurrently with the viewer viewing the content items (e.g.display of banner ads when the user is viewing web content), ordelivered asynchronously (e.g. delivered through email independent ofwhen the user stores or views personal photo-album). In the case ofadvertisement or promotional content, for example, the supplementalcontent may take the form of web-based banner ads, side media or dynamicmedia presented as an overlay or in connection with other content (suchas the image content of interest).

The following provide additional examples of relevant advertising thatmay result, with embodiments described herein: (i) viewers of beachpictures might be attracted to offers from beach resorts; (ii) viewersand owners of pictures taken outdoors might be more interested in anoutdoor apparel campaign than viewers of urban setting pictures; (iii)viewers of a set of party pictures can be inferred to have the samebiographical characteristics (gender, age class) displayed in thosepictures or be the people in the pictures themselves (such viewers maybe relevant to advertisers interested in associating with a “partying”lifestyle); (iv) Viewers/owners of dog pictures might be good targetsfor pet supply stores; (v) viewers/owners of pictures with severalhigh-end luxury brands or logos are most likely affluent; (vi) Viewersof large collections of car or motorcycle pictures are most likely to becar or motorcycle enthusiasts; (vii) viewers/owners of pictures withmultiple sports brands are most likely more active; and/or (viii)viewers of images containing brands, products and logos recognized inimages can be good advertising targets for brand owners and makers ofthe products, or any of their competitors; and (ix) viewers of babypictures, or content items containing babies, have interest in babiesfrom the perspective or parent, guardian, or relative, and/or areinclined to be interested in products and services that are oriented forparents or those giving gifts to babies.

System

FIG. 2 illustrates a system for delivering supplemental content to userthrough use of image recognition or analysis of content items that areviewed, stored or otherwise of interest to a user, under an embodimentof the invention. In one embodiment, components of the system 200include an analysis system 210, an inference determinator 220, a contentselected 230, and a presentation component 240. Image-based contentitems 202 may be received as input, or otherwise identified by theanalysis system 210. The content items 202 may correspond to an imagefrom a collection or library (such as online photo-libraries), to a webpage or portion thereof, to images returned as part of a search resultor search query, or to other images that are displayed to a user whenviewing other content in an online medium (e.g. blogs, social networkpages).

Analysis system 210 may include components for analyzing image datacontained in the image input 202. In an embodiment, analysis system 210performs image analysis on image portions of the content item.

According to an embodiment, the analysis system 210 also scans text,identifies metadata, and/or associated sources of data outside of theimage data of the input. Thus, for example, associated text and the URLlink to a content item containing the image may all be used to determineinformation for determining inferences, as described elsewhere in thisapplication. Numerous techniques for implementing analysis algorithms aspart of analysis system 210 may be used, (including those for analyzingtext or metadata), including those that are described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/777,894, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLINGIMAGE RECOGNITION AND SEARCHING OF REMOTE CONTENT ON DISPLAY, filed Jul.13, 2007, which is incorporated by reference herein.

In one embodiment, an output of the analysis system 210 includes subjectinformation 212. Subject information 212 may comprise results of imageanalysis performed on the image portion of the content item. Suchinformation may be expressed or represented through vectors, text orimage data, and be used to identify the classification of determinedobjects in the content item 202. For example, in one embodiment, theimage analysis portion of system 210 may be configured to detect babiesin the image of the content items, and the image data 212 may identify“baby” (e.g. as text) along with other information such as “withmother”. As an alternative, the subject information 212 may simplyoutput data that identifies the object of the image input 202 by class,and allow the inference determinator 220 to determine one or moreinferences 222 therefrom.

As described with an embodiment of FIG. 1, inference determinator 220determines one or more inferences 222 for use in providing supplementalcontent to a user. In one embodiment, separate inferences 222 are outputdepending on whether the user is a viewer or a holder/owner of thecontent items.

Content selector 230 may receive inferences from the inferencedeterminator 220 and make selections of content items from asupplemental content item store 250. In one embodiment, the contentselector 230 may determine a market segment from the inferences 222outputted by the inference determinator 220. In addition to marketsegment, associated keywords may be used from which a query 232 is atleast partially constructed.

Supplemental content items 234 may be identified by from the store 250by associating a selection criteria with the determinations made in theanalysis system. The determinations may account for the inferences thatwere made. In one embodiment, the selector 240 compares inferences, orinformation items associated with inferences, with information that ispre-associated or designated with supplemental content items 234 in thestore 250. For example, in one implementation, a programmaticallydetermined inference may be associated with a user's socio-economicclass. The user class may form the basis of the selection criteria. Asan option, the subject as identified from the content items may also beused as the basis for the selection criteria. In one implementation,supplemental content items may be tagged and retrieved to match theinferences by the selector 240. Supplemental content 234, or identifiersfor supplemental content, may be returned to the content selector 230(or fed directly to the presentation). The selected supplemental content234 is then output for presentation.

A presentation component 240 may be used to render or delivery thesupplemental content 234 to the target. The supplemental content 234 maybe part of a presentation 242 that includes the content item 202. In thecase of advertisement, for example, supplemental content 234 may bedisplayed as banner ads or side ads or dynamic media that hovers or isotherwise embedded in a page. The page may also contain the image of thecontent item 202. As an alternative, content item (e.g. one image filefrom a collection) may be displayed with a small advertisement media ora tag. Numerous other alternatives are also possible.

FIG. 3 illustrates additional components of an analysis system andinference determinator, as shown with an embodiment of FIG. 2, accordingto one or more embodiments. The analysis system 210 may includecomponents for image analysis 312, metadata analysis 314, text analysis316, and user analysis 318. The components of the analysis system 210may analyze content item 202 at the time that a user 306 views thecontent item, or independent from the time the user views the contentitem.

The image analysis component 312 may extract or use the image portion301 of the content item to perform image analysis on the content item202. In an embodiment, the image analysis component may performprocesses that include (i) separating a foreground image from abackground image, then (ii) detecting markers for certain types ofobjects (e.g. detect face by detecting eyes, nose, corner of mouthetc.).

Additionally, in one embodiment, the image analysis 210 includes one ormore classifiers that use, for example, shape recognition to determine aclass of objects contained in the content item. For example, asdescribed above, the markers or classifiers may be organized in a treestructure that progresses by sub-class, with markers being progressivelyidentified to sub-classes. This formulation enhances the classificationprocess performed to detect objects in images that are not otherwiseknown to the analysis system 210. The result is that the classificationcan identify the presence of objects of a specific sub-class, such as atype of apparel (e.g. apparel for gender, apparel by price range orbrand, material of apparel, apparel color). Likewise with persons, theclassification can identify persons by ethnicity, gender or age throughsimilar marker identification.

In one embodiment, the text analysis component 314 may extract text data304, such as in the form of key or relevant words, from any text portionof the content item. The words for the analysis may be identified byidentifying the frequency of words, and inspecting title, header orsubject line information. Such words might be filtered by a proper noundictionary if necessary.

Metadata analysis component 316 may extract and use various kinds ofmetadata 303. For images, the metadata analysis 316 may identifycreation date and the creator (e.g. person or device that created oruploaded the image). The metadata analysis 316 may, for example,identify when multiple images are about a common event (approximatelysame creation time, same creator etc.). In the case of web based contentitems 202, the metadata may include link or URL analysis, which mayinclude words or terms that are descriptive of the subject matter orcontext of the content item 202.

In an embodiment, the image analysis component 312, text analysiscomponent 314, and metadata analysis 316 may extract or otherwiseidentify information from the content item 202 or information providedwith the content item. In an embodiment, the user analysis component 318may identify information from sources that include, for example, thesoftware component 302 that the user utilizes to view the content items202. The user's browser may, for example, be used to identify a generallocation of the user (e.g. through IP address). The user may also berequired to logon to an account to view the content items 202. As anaddition or alternative, information identifiable from the logon or theuser's profile associated with an online or software-based account maybe identified and used.

Information 332 determined from the analysis system 210 may be suppliedto the inference determinator 220. As described with an embodiment ofFIG. 2, this may correspond to subject information 212, which may bedetermined from image analysis component 312, text analysis component316, and metadata analysis 314. As an addition or alternative, theinformation 332 provided to the inference determinator 220 may alsoinclude user information 331, as identified by the user analysiscomponent 318.

The inference determinator 220 may include an inference calculator 340that processes information 332 to programmatically make one moreinferences 344 about (i) the subject of the content item, or (ii) theuser (viewer or image holder) of the content item. According to anembodiment, the inference calculator 340 may use a combination of rules332 and/or probabilistic calculations 334 to make the inferences 344. Inone implementation, the rules 332 and/or probabilistic calculations 334are designed by humans, through, for example, judgment, statisticalsampling, and/or experimentation. The following provide examples of howrules 332 and/or probabilistic calculations 334 may be implemented:

Rule: For a private or semi-private collection of content items, if thesubject matter of the content item is a baby, and if the user views thesame baby (probabilistically) in multiple content items, the inferenceis that the user is either a parent (of the baby) or a close relative ofthe baby. In this case, one probabilistic calculation is based on thepremise that the viewer wants to see his own child. As an alternative,if a person views baby pictures over a duration, he may simply beidentified as a person who is likely to purchase a baby gift.

Rule: Likewise, if the subject matter of some content items includesmultiple babies, but one baby is constant in all the content items, thenthe inference is that the user is most likely a parent. In this case,one probabilistic calculation is based on the premise that the viewerwants to see his own child.

Rule: Similarly, if the subject matter of the content item is a dog, andthe user views the same dog (probabilistically) in multiple contentitems, the inference is that the user is a pet owner. In this case, oneprobabilistic calculation is based on the premise that pet owners keepimages of their own pets.

Rule: If two people appear together in multiple images and in closeproximity, then the premise is that the persons are friends orrelatives.

Rule: If two people appear together in multiple images and in closeproximity, and one person is older than 64 while another is a toddler ora baby, the inference is that the two persons are related, and that theolder person is a grand-parent. If the person has more images of olderpersons, then an inference may be made that the viewer is a grand-parent(based on the premise that older people keep or view images or contentitems depicting older people).

Rule: Event based inferences: If numerous persons are shown together inmultiple images smiling, the inference is that those persons know eachother and/or shared an experience at an event (e.g. a party orcelebration).

Rule: Location based inference: When the user views images of a privateor semi-private collection containing outdoor pictures with shapes andgray backgrounds, the inference is that the user lives in an urbansetting. This confidence level of this inference may be based in part onthe probabilistic calculation identified from, for example, the user'slocation (as determined from IP Address or other source).

Rule: Brand Inference: When the user repeatedly selects or viewscommercial images (advertisements) of a particular brand, a brandinference may be made that the user appreciates a particular brand.Furthermore, an inference may be made regarding the socio-economic class(e.g. salary range) or gender of the user based on the type of itemsviewed or the brand.

Numerous other rules or probabilistic calculations may be developed orimplemented, for various environments. In particular, different rulesand probabilistic assumptions may be developed for public, private orsemi-private collections of images or other content items.

FIG. 4 illustrates an architecture for a computing system on which oneor more embodiments described herein may be implemented. In anembodiment, a computing system may comprise an analysis system 408, acontent-item presentation element 410, a user system 420, a supplementalcontent item store 430, and a supplemental content item selector 440.The various components of the system may be provided on one location orproximity (e.g. on user's personal computer) or distributed in a networkenvironment. In the latter case, the analysis system 408 and thepresentation element 410 may be integrated or distributed. Whendistributed, they may be operated by different entities. For example,the presentation element 410 may be provided on a server that hosts awebsite, in which case the entity corresponds to the host of thewebsite. In such cases, content items 412 (web articles, blogs etc.) maybe provided (downloaded) from the host. In such cases, the analysissystem 408 may interact with the presentation element 410 to determinethe subject (or user) information and to make the inferences describedwith one or more other embodiments (e.g. see FIG. 2 and FIG. 3). In oneimplementation, at least some of the analysis, such as that of thecontent items 412, may be made prior to the user viewing the contentitems 412, while user information, on the other hand, may be optionallymade at the time the user views the content item. Still further, underanother implementation, the analysis system may use a history of theuser's browsing experience to independently determine the subject matterinformation and/or inferences.

Alternatively, the presentation element 410 may correspond to a web pageof a user on a social network site, in which case the entity of thepresentation element may correspond to the user. In this case, thecontent items 412 of the presentation element 410 may be uploaded andmaintained by the user, through, for example, the users account. Theanalysis of the content items and the user information may be made priorto, at time of, or after a user views the content items 412. The usermay correspond to the individual who maintains the page (owner orprivate), or to an invited guest (semi-private).

Still further, in another variation, the analysis system 408 and thepresentation element 410 may form part of the user system 410. Forexample, both components may reside on the user's personal computer.

The selector 440 may provide various kinds of targeted advertisement,promotional content, marketing material or other content or data. Suchcontent may be selected from the supplemental content store 430. In oneimplementation such content may be combined as part of a presentationthat includes the content items 408. For example, the analysis formaking the inferences and for selecting the supplemental content itemsmay be made right when the user views the content items 408.Alternatively, the selector 440 may select content items forpresentation on a different platform and/or at a different time or place(e.g. in the user's browser from information determined by the userviewing personal images in a image viewer; via email after the userviews a friend's social network page).

Thus, embodiments described herein contemplate numerous settings orenvironments where embodiments described herein may be implemented.Scenarios described with embodiments of FIG. 4 and elsewhere in theapplication only provide examples of the computing environment in whichembodiments may be implemented.

Baby Like Implementation Scenario

The ability to identify social-economic classification of users and/ortheir interests from content that they viewed may serve as a powerfulmechanism by which advertisement and commercial content may be deliveredto a person. For example, embodiments recognize that parents of babiesare highly marketable for advertisements of baby food, products,insurance and education. For this reason, embodiments recognize, forexample, that there is significant monetary value associated with theability to identify a web user browsing a site or service as a parent ofa newborn “on-the-fly” or otherwise. If the person can be identified assuch, then targeting banner ads, sponsored links or other form ofcommercial web content may be commercially successful. Similarconclusions may be drawn for pet owners, senior citizens, or otherdemographics that are known to be interested in particular kinds ofproducts or services.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method by which a user's interests in babies ortoddlers can be leveraged, in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe invention. In describing a method of FIG. 5, reference may be madeto elements of other figures for purpose of illustrating suitablecomponents for performing a step or sub-step being described.

In a step 510, content items 202 (FIG. 2) are analyzed. In the analysis,one subject of the content items is determined to be babies or toddlers.The subject determination may be based in part on classifying objectsthat appear in images of the content item. For example, when the imageis analyzed, person detection may be performed to identify the presenceof a human from skin tone, eyes, lips, nose to eye features, hairline orother markers of a human. Once detected, face comparisons may beperformed to model the face into one of the identifiable age groups(which may include babies or toddlers). Text accompanying the image(e.g. “He's 1 year old!!”) or metadata (associated URL that has term“baby”) may increase/decrease the confidence of the determination.

In step 520, an inference may be made from the information determinedabout the subject that the viewer or holder is interested in the classof babies. This inference may be made either with intelligence orwithout. For example, an assumption may be made that anyone who opens animage of a baby on a photo-sharing site is a parent or a person who isinterested in babies or the particular baby shown. Alternatively, theinference may be made intelligently, using, for example, informationdetermined from other pictures that the user has viewed, or the user'sweb or viewing history. When the inference is intelligently made, theinference is more likely to accurately reflect, for example, that theviewer is a parent or a person (e.g. guardian, close relative likeUncle, friend of a recent parent) who has interest in the class ofbabies or even baby products.

Step 530 provides that supplemental content is selected and displayed tothe user based on the inference made about the user's interests in theclass of babies. For example, in accordance with embodiments describedherein, banner ads, dynamic web media, emails, or other forms ofcommercial content may be supplied to the user based on the user beingidentified as a class of persons who is interested in babies. Forexample, the user may be identified as a parent of a baby, andcommercial content for baby food, clothes, or education funds may beprovided to the user, either at the time of determination or at a latertime (e.g. through email sent on a later date or as a web-banner in asubsequent browsing session etc.).

Supplemental Content Presentation

FIG. 6 illustrates a presentation on which supplemental content selectedin part from inferences of other content and/or other inferences isdisplayed, under an embodiment. The presentation 602 may include contentitems which are or have been analyzed for their subject matter. Asdescribed with other embodiments, inferences may be identified about thecontent items, including from image portions 612 and text portions 614.Still further, inferences may be determined about the viewer or user ofthe content items. For example, inferences may incorporate analysis ofthe image portions 612, text portions 614, and past content viewed fromthe user (e.g. based on user's prior history of viewing such content).As further described with other embodiments, the inferences that aredetermined may be used to identify one or more socio-economicclassifications of the user.

In response to making the inferences, commercial content 610 may beprogrammatically selected for the viewer. In one embodiment, commercialcontent 610 may be selected based on the social-economic classificationdetermined for the user. In the implementation shown, where presentation602 is provided as part of a web page that is downloaded by the userthrough his browser, the commercial content 610 may be in the form ofsponsored media, such as banners or sponsored links, web overlays orsimilar content. Each commercial content may include, for example,selectable links to enable the user to navigate directly to ane-commerce site or point of sale where an item identified as being ofinterest to the socio-economic class of the user (as identified from theinferences) is displayed.

Alternatives and Variations

As an addition or alternative to any embodiment described herein,information derived from images can be correlated directly with theeffectiveness of advertisements displayed contextually through alearning process. An example of learning would involve: (i) displayingan ad campaign to users of a large collection of images; (ii) collectingclick-through information from the campaign; (iii) using this data tobuild a prediction model which correlates click-through information withthe image content; (iv) using this prediction model to drive a new,better targeted, advertising campaign.

The contextual advertisement could be delivered directly onto the image,as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/543,758, entitledSYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USE OF IMAGES WITH RECOGNITION ANALYSIS, filedOct. 3, 2006 (and incorporated by reference herein). The advertisementmay alternatively be delivered around the image, or in another locationwhere the identity of the person can be established to be either theowner or a viewer of the image.

While embodiments described herein are specific to “images” and “imagecontent”, one or more embodiments described herein may also beapplicable to video media. With video media, a frame capture componentmay be used to selectively identify frames of the video. For each frame,embodiments such as described in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 may be implemented todetermine inferences, and generate advertisement or other supplementalcontent to be displayed with the video segment. Numerous frame capturetechniques exist. It will be appreciated that video offers an inherentability to add confidence values to results of the image analysis. Forexample, video frames over a given time frame may be captured andcompared to determine if results from frame to frame match.

CONCLUSION

As mentioned, it is contemplated for embodiments of the invention toextend to individual elements and concepts described herein,independently of other concepts, ideas or system, as well as forembodiments to include combinations of elements recited anywhere in thisapplication. Although illustrative embodiments of the invention havebeen described in detail herein with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited tothose precise embodiments. As such, many modifications and variationswill be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. Accordingly, itis intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the followingclaims and their equivalents. Furthermore, it is contemplated that aparticular feature described either individually or as part of anembodiment can be combined with other individually described features,or parts of other embodiments, even if the other features andembodiments make no mentioned of the particular feature. Thus, theabsence of describing combinations should not preclude the inventor fromclaiming rights to such combinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing content, the method beingimplemented by one or more processors and comprising: analyzing acontent item to determine geographic information that is relevant to animage of the content item; determining one or more interests of a persondepicted in the content item, wherein the one or more interests arebased on an assumption or probabilistic conclusion from application ofone or more rules that utilize the geographic information; and selectinga supplemental content item to provide to a viewer of the content itembased on the one or more interests.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinanalyzing the content item includes analyzing a text provided with thecontent item.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method is performedin an online environment that includes a website and one or more viewersthat access the website with a browser.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein analyzing the content item includes (i) analyzing a backgroundof the image of the content item, and (ii) determining the geographicinformation based at least in part on the color or texture of thebackground.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein analyzing the content itemincludes determining the geographic information based on determiningthat the image depicts one of an indoor scene or an outdoor scene. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the content item includesdetermining the geographic information based on a geographic type of theoutdoor scene.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the one ormore interests includes determining the one or more interests based onan identity or classification of the person depicted in the image of thecontent item.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the one ormore interests includes determining the one or more interests based onan event that is relevant to or depicted as a subject of the contentitem.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the supplemental content item isan advertisement.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or moreinterests exclude (a) information made explicit in the content item, and(b) information that is depicted with one or more foreground objects inthe image of the content item.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium that stores instructions that, when executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform operationscomprising: analyzing a content item to determine geographic informationthat is relevant to an image of the content item; determining one ormore interests of a person depicted in the content item, wherein the oneor more interests are based on an assumption or probabilistic conclusionfrom application of one or more rules that utilize the geographicinformation; and selecting a supplemental content item to provide to aviewer of the content item based on the one or more interests.
 12. Asystem comprising: one or more processors; memory coupled to the one ormore processors, wherein the memory stores instructions that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processorsto: analyze a content item to determine geographic information that isrelevant to an image of the content item; determine one or moreinterests of a person depicted in the content item, wherein the one ormore interests are based on an assumption or probabilistic conclusionfrom application of one or more rules that utilize the geographicinformation; and select a supplemental content item to provide to aviewer of the content item based on the one or more interests.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein analyzing the content item includesperforming image analysis on the image of the content item to determinethe geographic information.
 14. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining the geographic information includes determining a geographiccharacterization for the content item, based on geographic informationdetermined from performing the image analysis.
 15. The method of claim1, wherein determining the one or more interests includes determiningthe one or more interests based on an event that occurred at a locationidentified from the geographic information.
 16. The computer-readablemedium of claim 11, wherein the instructions for analyzing the contentitem include instructions for performing image analysis on the image ofthe content item to determine the geographic information.
 17. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions fordetermining the geographic information include instructions fordetermining a geographic characterization for the content item, based ongeographic information determined from performing the image analysis.18. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructionsfor determining the one or more interests include instructions fordetermining the one or more interests based on an event that occurred ata location identified from the geographic information.
 19. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more interestsexclude (a) information made explicit in the content item, and (b)information that is depicted with one or more foreground objects in theimage of the content item.
 20. The computer system of claim 12, whereinthe one or more processors analyze the content item by performing imageanalysis on the image of the content item to determine the geographicinformation.
 21. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the one ormore processors determine the geographic information by determining ageographic characterization for the content item, based on geographicinformation determined from performing the image analysis.
 22. Thecomputer system of claim 12, wherein the one or more processorsdetermine the one or more interests by determining an event inferencerelating to an event that occurred at a location identified from thegeographic information.
 23. The computer system of claim 12, wherein theone or more interests exclude (a) information made explicit in thecontent item, and (b) information that is depicted with one or moreforeground objects in the image of the content item.